This week’s Dancing with the Stars theme is “Most-Memorable Year” in the life of each celeb. Overall, the performances ranged from good to outstanding, most of the pros choreographed appropriate/traditional and sufficient dance content, and the judges’ scores were mostly fair.

Normani Kordei: Tradl. Rhumba. Judges’ scores 8-7-8-9. My score 9.

The positive: Val’s choreo was good, except that a few times they interrupted the flow a bit. The dance was magnetic, graceful, pretty, dramatic and emotional in relaying Normani’s joy and gratitude in joining Fifth Harmony in 2012. Again, she was all in, with excellent posture while experiencing the dance. As Len said, “A joy to watch.” CAI subtracted a point for a lift.

Nick Viall:Traditional Rhumba. Judges’ scores 8-7-8-7. My score 8.

The positive: Without any doubt, this was Nick’s best dance to date! He really appeared to be invested in the representation of his time on “The Bachelor,” where he finally found love in 2015. It began with him dancing briefly with four girls; the bulk of the time, logically, was with Peta, and just before the end with his fiancée, Vanessa. He was in the role of the leading man this time, all the way, which is major progress in confidence. He showed marked improvement all the way around, especially also in posture. He has progressed further and sooner than I had supposed he would on Dancing with the Stars. A really good job this week, and I enjoyed it.

The positive: Nancy shared the heartbreak of suffering six miscarriages in eight years after a successful first pregnancy that gave her a healthy son, along with the joy of later getting a daughter via in-vitro fertilization. Their dance was flowing, smooth, loving, and joyful. Her posture was perfect. Beautiful and delightful to watch! Loved it! (Most judges’ scores were too low.)

The negative/work on: As Len said, try to keep your shoulders down when lifting your arms; hard to do and to monitor while dancing, and sometimes hard for me to see.

Mr. T:Tradl. Waltz. Judges’ scores 7-7-7-7. My score 7.

The positive & the negative: This sweet, humble, and truly adorable man recounted his 1995 experience with a rare form of cancer on his ear, which I assume to have been a form of melanoma. He looked handsome in a suit. The dance was actually pretty smooth, flowing, and lovely to “Amazing Grace.” His strong faith in God showed in the dance and affected many onlookers, both in the ballroom and in living rooms across America. His timing, frame/hold, and arms and legs looked quite a bit better. He has worked hard to learn something about ballroom and Latin dance, and has had fun in the process. He still needs to learn to do more than “walking,” needing bounce, rhythm, and, for the waltz, rise and fall in the footwork. I liked it.

Heather Morris:Tradl. Cha-Cha. Judges’ scores 8-9-9-9. My score 9.

The positive:(Alan; Maks is injured.) WOW! A+ on nearly everything, especially hip action, posture, lines, and footwork. CAI took a point for a lift. My second favorite tonight.

David Ross:Tradl. Viennese Waltz. Judges’ scores 7-8-8-8. My score 8.

The positive: It seems that no matter what David’s doing on Dancing with the Stars, he’s just plain likable. I scored his rhythm at 75%. His posture, frame/hold, arms/hands/extensions were much better as he relived his team’s, the Chicago Cubs, win of the 2016 World Series in baseball. The dance was basically pretty and enjoyable.

The positive: The Viennese Waltz is supposed to flow continuously with the utmost grace, seamlessly smooth. However, his legs and footwork were not graceful and smooth enough; instead, his knees were too bent, as though he were going to go down into a catcher’s squat, and his leg/foot movements had too much bounce, as though he were popping up and down between stops/catches and restarts/throws in his job as the Cubs’ catcher. Also, I wish that he would show a little more variation in his facial expressions, finish his arm movements, and remember to make his hands more graceful. None of this can be easy for him and Bonner, considering the demands and regular movements of their respective sports, but they’re brave in trying hard and showing improvement most of the time.

Rashad Jennings:Contemporary. Judges’ scores 10-9-10-10. My score 10.

The positive: The year 2006 was when Rashad began to understand unconditional love, especially from his father. That year, his to-date unexpressive diabetic father had a stroke and then had to have one of his legs amputated. Rashad is dancing for his father! When the dance ended, Rashad ran to his wheelchair-bound father, near the dance floor. They hugged and cried. Many others cried, too. Everything about him, Emma, and their dance was gorgeous! WOW! Loved it! The Dance of the Night!

The negative/work on: No negatives tonight; just keep working on technique, maintaining good posture, and making your hands graceful.

Erika Jayne:Tradl. Cha-Cha. Judges’ scores 8-7-7-8. My score 7.5.

The positive: No one can deny that this woman has rhythm, flexibility, timing, general dance skill, and lovely legs.

The negative/work on: She needs to go beyond mere technique to being fully invested with bounce, full possible movement, and full participation.

The positive: Simone finally showed some perceptible emotion in telling about her adoption and appeared to be somewhat invested in the dance rather than simply performing on cue. Her rhythm, timing, frame/hold, and footwork were well done, and the dance was pretty to watch, for the most part.

The negative/work on: Truly feel and show emotion while being immersed in the music and the movement. Finish movements, especially arms/legs, with more grace and less muscular ability. If you can genuinely do these two things, you could become on par with Normani.

Bonner Bolton:Tradl. Foxtrot. Judges’ scores 8-8-8-8. My score 8.

The positive: Bonner, too, showed much improvement this week while conveying the emotion from the trauma of his horrible bull-riding accident last year, which broke his neck. His rhythm and timing, frame/hold, and posture were good. The dance was graceful and smooth, showing enhanced control of his often-bow-leggedness and feet. I liked it!

The negative/work on: But, he showed insufficient rise and fall in his footwork, despite the growth in control. Keep working on overall technique and on legs and footwork. You’re well liked, and you could go much further on Dancing with the Stars this season.

WHO WAS ELIMINATED THIS WEEK? Mr. T Teddybear. He did learn something about dancing over the past several weeks while revealing and endearing us to his sweet side and bringing us joy.

Writing has been an important talent and part of my life since I was a child.Professionally, after decades of employment for others, I founded Writestyle in 1996 to provide writing, editing, proofreading, training, and more to clients worldwide (www.writestyle.com).Clients often call my work “magic.”I have written and/or edited for “Coexistence Magazine” (national), for “Ohio Magazine,” and for various newspapers.In addition, I have edited or contributed to the writing of numerous books.Personally, I have written in various genres.I have always composed poetry; as such, I have won awards and publication for some of my poems, and I am compiling a book of my poetry.One of my children’s books is set for publication.With my second husband, family and friends in Ohio, I enjoy music and dance, aid charitable causes, and strive for beauty and harmony in life.

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About Me

Professionally, after decades of employment for others, Vickie Weaver founded Writestyle in 1996 to provide writing, editing, proofreading, training, and more to clients worldwide. She has written and/or edited for “Coexistence Magazine” (national), “Ohio Magazine,” and various newspapers. In addition, she has edited or contributed to the writing of numerous books. Personally, she has won awards and publication for some of her poems and is compiling a book of her poetry. She enjoys music and dance, and strives for beauty and harmony in life.